Loretta evolves into an All-Star player as member of the Padres

PEORIA, Ariz. —— Out of virtually nowhere in 2003, Mark Loretta
came on like gangbusters. Labeled an injury-prone journeyman,
signed as a second-option free agent the previous fall, the Padres'
second baseman established career bests in most offensive
categories and was the ray of sunlight in an otherwise dreary
season.

Everyone called it a year for the books. Loretta considered it a
jumping-off point, the entryway to a prosperous second act in
baseball.

As the Padres moved from Qualcomm Stadium to Petco Park last
year, Loretta achieved a level of proficiency the team would have
thought unfathomable when it imported him from Houston, where he
made a brief stop after eight seasons in Milwaukee.

How proficient? He posted numbers reminiscent of the franchise's
all-time best hitter, was voted to play in his first All-Star Game
and won the Silver Slugger Award for National League second
basemen.

So, Mark, where do you go from there?

"Every year is different. Every situation is different," the
33-year-old Loretta said. "There are definitely specific parts of
the game I would like to improve on. I don't think you can say I'm
going to hit .340 instead of .335 (his figure in 2004). There's an
element of luck involved, too. I try to take that out of it by
trying to hit the ball as hard as I can every time up, and if it
falls it falls.

"In some ways those numbers are hard to control, so I'm just
going to try to be as consistent as I can."

Loretta isn't flashy with his words, nor is he flashy on the
diamond. He is simply the Padres' rock from his No. 2 spot in the
batting order and his place in the infield, where he forms an
excellent double-play combination with shortstop Khalil Greene.
Loretta's average was the highest for a Padre since Tony Gwynn hit
.338 in 1999, his 108 runs were the most since Greg Vaughn scored
112 in '98, his 208 hits the most since Gwynn had 220 in '97, and
his 47 doubles the most since Gwynn had 49 in '97.

No wonder Padres manager Bruce Bochy said last week that Loretta
"had a Tony Gwynn-type year."

"We got lucky," Bochy said of stumbling upon Loretta, who was
rewarded with a contract extension in 2003 that will pay him $2.75
million this season and $3 million in his option year of '06. "I
know we were talking about getting Royce Clayton here and that
didn't work out, so we got Loretta. Talk about finding lightning in
a bottle. This guy has done a tremendous job for us.

"He plays both sides of the ball so well. He's a guy that we're
realizing how good he is."

From his long list of 2004 accomplishments, Loretta picks
scoring more than 100 runs for the first time as the most
special.

"That was my real goal going into the season because I knew that
would mean a lot of things," he said. "It would mean I was getting
on base at a decent clip and also that guys behind me were driving
me in. Hitting where I did in the order, I think that's the magic
number. If you can score 100 runs, you know you're going to have a
pretty productive offensive team."

How to explain Loretta's continuing growth as a player at a
stage when many contemporaries' skills are devolving?

Staying healthy is surely one factor —— he has played in a
career-best 154 games two years running. And Loretta has attributed
his sudden rise as a power threat (13 and 16 home runs the past two
seasons after never hitting more than seven previously) to learning
how to turn on pitches rather than spraying the ball to the
opposite field.

But more telling, he says, is the long, sometimes arduous path
he took to San Diego.

"One of the major reasons I was able to do what I've done the
last couple years is just the experience that I've had leading up
to it, good and bad," Loretta said. "Just learning about myself,
learning the game, learning how to make adjustments. I think
experience in this game is underrated. It takes a long time to
really understand how to handle this game, mentally and emotionally
more than anything."